Ebola Puts Focus On Drugs Made In Tobacco Plants

It's an eye-catching angle in the story of an experimental treatment for Ebola: The drug comes from tobacco plants that were turned into living pharmaceutical factories.

Using plants this way — sometimes called "pharming" — can produce complex and valuable proteins for medicines. That approach, studied for about 20 years, hasn't caught on widely in the pharmaceutical industry.

But some companies and academic labs are pursuing it to create medicines and vaccines against such targets as HIV, cancer, the deadly Marburg virus and norovirus, known for causing outbreaks of stomach bug on cruise ships, as well as Ebola.

Scientists Discover How Ebola Virus Disables Immune Response

SCIENTISTS say they have found how the lethal Ebola virus blocks and disables the body’s ability to battle infections in a discovery that should help the search for potential cures and vaccines.

A group of scientists in the United States found that Ebola carries a protein called VP24 that interferes with a molecule called interferon, which is vital to the immune response.

“One of the key reasons that Ebola virus is so deadly is because it disrupts the body’s immune response to the infection,” said Chris Basler of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, who worked on the study. “Figuring out how VP24 promotes this disruption will suggest new ways to defeat the virus.”

US Doctors Say ‘Secret Serum’ Helped Save Lives Of American Ebola Patients

The US may have found a cure to Ebola? And if they have, will they come help patients of this dreaded disease in Africa? The article below was written by Dr. Sanjay Gupta for CNN and they are saying an experimental drug called ZMapp likely saved the lives of 2 US missionary doctors (pictured above) who contracted the disease while working in Liberia...see report below from CNN..

    Three vials containing an experimental drug stored at subzero temperatures were flown into Liberia last week in a last-ditch effort to save two American missionary workers who had contracted Ebola, according to a source familiar with details of the treatment.

   

Malaysia Airlines Plane Crash: More Than 100 AIDS Experts Killed In Disaster

World-renowned Aids researchers and activists heading to an international conference in Australia were on board the downed Malaysian jet, it has emerged. And news of their deaths has sparked an outpouring of grief across the global scientific community.

The Australian newspaper reports that up to 108 researchers were aboard the flight on their way to the southern Australian city of Melbourne to attend the 20th International Aids Conference, which starts on Sunday. The plane was scheduled to continue flying to the western Australian city of Perth after stopping in Kuala Lumpur.

Nigerian Student Builds Solar-Powered Car (SEE PHOTOS)

Segun Oyeyiola

A young Nigerian student doing his last year in electronic and electrical engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has built a car operating on solar power.

Segun Oyeyiola explains that his car uses  both wind and solar energy for the functioning, The Net reports. Moreover, the man developed an application for its installation in the car, which app will inform the driver about the battery level, weather conditions and other essential parameters.

In an interview to allAfrica.com Segun spoke about how he came up with the idea and eventually embodied it. He confessed his first motivation was to eradicated the causes of climate change resulting in fuel combustion.

ASU Professor Offers Extra Credit For Hairy Armpits

Breanne Fahs, an associate professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University, offers female students extra credit if they choose to stop shaving their armpit hair, according to a recent profile on Fahs by ASU News. The educator offers male students extra credit if they opt to shave from the neck down.

Fahs, who has offered the boost since 2010, says the extra credit option is a way for students to learn about prescribed gender norms and personal agency.

7 Things Every Woman Needs To Do For Her Skin

Consider this your ultimate to-do list for healthier, more beautiful skin. The bad news: These are non-negotiable. The good news: They're easy!


1. Double up on fruits and vegetables.

Eating the right amount of fruits and vegetables can give you a healthy, vital glow. A 2012 study in the journal PLoS One found that people who ate a lot of colorful produce were perceived as being healthier and more attractive (seriously!). One reason is that the carotenoid-containing fruits and vegetables (e.g., carrots, pumpkin, red peppers, squash) boost the skin's yellow, red and orange tones, says Elisa Zied, RD, a nutritionist and author of Younger Next Week.

 A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate a lot of vitamin C, in particular, were less prone to wrinkles and dry, scaly skin (possibly because the nutrient promotes the production of collagen). Think you're doing just fine in the, erm, produce department? Zied recommends 4.5 cups a day of fruit and vegetables and says that the average woman consumes only around two and a half cups.

Do You know Banana Peel Can Protect Your Heart? See the Details

It is a well-known fact that bananas are exceptionally nutritious and offer several health promoting benefits. A common practice while eating banana is to eat the flesh of the banana and throw its peel away, but do you know that banana skin provides you with numerous nutrients which protect your heart and overall health?

Banana peel contains many vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, which makes it excellent for health and beauty purposes. Although it can be eaten raw, it is best when consumed after cooking. So the next time you have a banana, instead of discarding the peel, try to make use of its amazing benefits.

REVEALED: Watermelon Seed Improves Male Fertility

Watermelon is a rich and crisp fruit that is found in all seasons. For those who have fondness for watermelon it is good you know that there is one aspect the fruit that you may be ignoring - the watermelon seed. In this piece, VICTOR OKEKE writes on this protein and mineral-rich seed.

Watermelon is a very popular fruit. While we all enjoy eating this sweet refreshing fruit, we usually discard the tiny seeds scattered in it without realizing or rather knowing of their health benefits. These seeds are loaded with nutrients including fatty acids, essential proteins and lots of minerals.

DO YOU WATCH A LOT OF PORN? YOUR BRAIN MIGHT SUFFER AS A RESULT - STUDY REVEALS

View Point is happy this is now official, as the saying goes too much of everything is bad. So guys you really need to slow down here.

 Men who report watching a lot of pornography tend to have less volume and activity in regions of the brain linked to rewards and motivation, says a new German study.

The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, can't say watching porn caused the decrease in brain matter and activity, however.

It's not clear, for example, whether watching porn leads to brain changes or whether people born with certain brain types watch more porn, said Simone Kühn, the study’s lead author from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, in an email.

BREAKTHROUGH: Scientists Discover How You Can Control Your Dreams

After several attempts without success, researchers in Germany have finally developed a way of enabling sleepers to control their dreams.
According to the scientists who carried out the research, by applying electric current to the brain one can experience sweet dreams.
It was gathered that the new breakthrough could enable sleepers to control their dreams by applying an electric current to the brain which prompts lucid dreams, involving a state of heightened awareness.
It was added that the current prompts lucid dreams, which involve a state of heightened awareness that allows the sleeper to recognise they are dreaming and influence what happens next.

RESEACH: HOW FRUIT COULD BE USED TO MAKE YOUR NEXT PHONE BATTERY LAST` LONGER`

An electrode designed like a pomegranate could dramatically boost the battery life of gadgets, researchers have revealed.
Standford researcher developed the new electrode with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
They say it could soon find its way into gadgets, making them last far longer than current batteries which degrade over time.